The House of Representatives during plenary proceedings completed the period of sponsorship and debate for House Bill 10381, a Malacañang-certified measure that seeks to amend the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) to lower prices of rice.
In his sponsorship speech, House Committee on Agriculture and Food chairperson Representative Wilfrido Mark Enverga of Quezon said Republic Act 11203, or the RTL, which was enacted on Feb. 14, 2019, liberalized rice trading by lifting the quantitative restrictions on rice importation.
“The country adopted the use of tariffs for these imports which is then plowed back to the rice sector to protect local producers and help the agriculture sector compete globally.”
Enverga explained that the country adopted the use of tariffs for these imports which is then plowed back to the rice sector to protect local producers and help the agriculture sector compete globally.
The veteran legislator said the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund was created to help further develop and strengthen the rice industry with the goal of improving the lives of farmers, farm workers, and their dependents.
“The law mandates the National Food Authority to focus on maintaining a sufficient buffer stock to be sourced solely from local farmers and remove from it the power to import and trade rice.”
“The law mandates the National Food Authority to focus on maintaining a sufficient buffer stock to be sourced solely from local farmers and remove from it the power to import and trade rice,” the seasoned lawmaker stressed.
He said the law limits the power of the government to stabilize the price of rice and supply, which resulted in higher prices and periodic supply shortages.
“It has always been the desire of the President to lower rice prices. No less than the Honorable Speaker Romualdez initiated the deliberations to revisit the law and make it responsive to the present needs of Filipinos,” Enverga said.
Nueva Ecija Representative Mikaela Suansing, also a sponsor of the bill and author of House Bill 217, the first bill filed in the 19th Congress seeking to amend the RTL, said there are inadequacies in terms of coverage of crop insurance, which what the House is trying to address in the bill where lawmakers will allow excess tariff revenues to be accessed towards expanding crop insurance.
